The Justice Department notified Congress on Thursday that it will not comply with a subpoena for audio recordings of President Biden’s interview with former Special Counsel Robert Hur.
In an 11-page letter, Assistant Attorney General Carlos Uriarte rejected claims from House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) that the recordings contain information relevant to the Republican-led impeachment inquiry into the 81-year-old president.
Jordan and Comer have threatened to launch contempt proceedings against Attorney General Merrick Garland if the DOJ does comply with the subpoena.
Uriarte argued that the DOJ has complied, by releasing transcripts of Hur’s interview with Biden and other documents related to the federal investigation into the president’s handling of classified documents.
He called the contempt threats “unjustifiable,” defending the DOJ’s cooperation with the impeachment inquiry committees as “widespread, thorough, and consistent.”
“If the Committees’ goal is to receive information from the Department in furtherance of your investigations, that goal has been more than met,” Uriarte wrote. “Our cooperation has been extraordinary.”
“The Committees have not responded in kind,” he continued. “It seems that the more information you receive, the less satisfied you are, and the less justification you have for contempt, the more you rush towards it.”
The DOJ official charged the Judiciary and Oversight committees with failing to “identify a need for these audio files grounded in legislative or impeachment purposes.”
Uriarte explained that that has raised “concerns” about whether the lawmakers are seeking the audio files to score political points.
“We do not obtain evidence for criminal investigations so that it may later be deployed for political purposes,” he wrote.
The DOJ had already rebuffed an earlier demand for audio of Hur’s interview with Biden, arguing that releasing the recording would make it more difficult for prosecutors to secure interviews with witnesses or suspects in future investigations.
Jordan and Comer issued the subpoena for the audio files in late February.
In addition to the Biden interview transcript, the DOJ has also released a transcript of Hur’s interview with the president’s ghostwriter, Mark Zwonitzer.
Hur, a former Trump-appointed US attorney for the District of Maryland, submitted his findings about Biden’s handling of classified information in early February.
His 388-page bombshell report noted there was evidence that the commander in chief “willfully retained and disclosed classified materials,” but his team concluded there wasn’t enough to prove it “beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Hur also expressed concern that a jury would perceive the oldest president in US history as a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”
The Post has reached out to the offices of Comer and Jordan for comment.
